


Burned Families

by RougueShadowWolf



Series: 15 Minutes [189]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Child Stiles, Peter Hale is Stiles Stilinski's Parent, Stiles Stilinski is a Hale, The Hale Fire
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-12
Updated: 2018-04-12
Packaged: 2019-04-21 02:22:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14274855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RougueShadowWolf/pseuds/RougueShadowWolf
Summary: The Hale Fire burned bright and horrific, destroyed and killed without mercy. The flames licked away at Peter's flesh, left Laura and Derek orphaned and afraid, but spared for the most the child Peter chose to sacrifice.





	Burned Families

**Author's Note:**

> Greetings! (Couldn't get this posted hours ago, so I'm trying to do it now)  
> I hope you are well, if not, then I wish you better days to come.  
> So, to those who aren’t familiar with this series (oh yes, here I go again) know that this tale is written with the time limit of 15Minutes, thus the reason for the name of this series (aren’t I just very imaginative person), and so there will be a great deal of horrible spelling and grammar so if you can’t handle that leave now. AND more often than not I’m forced to end the tale before I’ve even started it, since I’m horrible at short stories. So, again, if you can’t handle bad writing and storytelling, please just save yourself the agony of reading my fic and becoming all negative and angry. But of course, if you can handle my clumsy writing, then you are welcome here.  
> Oh and even if you don’t chose to read this fic, I still wish you all the best.
> 
> Now to this tale which is my humble payment for my friend Aerospace-Ajar (at least that’s the name I gifted her for this time around), and she wanted another tale with Peter being Stiles dad, but because of the fire Stiles isn’t raised by Peter.

His lunges are on fire. He can’t breathe without coughing and yet Peter continues to run. There is no time to stop. There’s no time to pause for lives were in danger. Running towards the dreadful glow he can see through the trees, Peter can only hope that the Hunters have left instead of staying put to watch the fire burn his life to the ground.

 Peter runs towards the horrific screams and desperate howls that consumes all other sounds. He runs towards the burning building from which Peter had escaped from not too long ago, determined to keep the promise Peter had made before escaping the blaze.

Leaving his wife who had received an unjustifiable punch in the face when she’d made an attempt to reach their newborn son who had been crying upstairs, was anything but easy. Although leaving his wife was difficult, leaving his soon to be three-year old daughter who had wolfed-out when the hunters stormed the house was nearly impossible, but his wife had made him see that only by escaping could he save them all.

 Seeing the destructive power consuming his childhood home made Peter’s heart stutter, but neither the sight or the heat from the horrific fire had any power to stop him. Peter would gladly die while trying to save his family if only his wife and children escaped it.

Peter ran towards burning building, pleasantly surprised to find that there were no hunters watching the flames they’d given life too consuming a home and a large family, not that the presence of hunters would’ve made him so much as pause in his desperate attempt to enter the burning building.

 Using a shovel, one used only earlier that day to help create a new flowerbed for his wife to plant whatever flowers her heart desired, Peter successfully breaks the first line of mountain ash. Without hesitation, without pausing, without giving any thought to his own safety or survival Peter ran into the burning building. There was a part of him, a small part, that attempted to keep him from entering this man-made Hell on earth, but the greater part of him overruled it.

 Peter started immediately towards the stairs, the sound of his son crying drawing him in like a sirens song, but then he paused as the weight of his actions struck him.

 Saving his son might cause more than just one life to be lost, the time it would take for him to save his son might cost the lives of many. Peter knew he would never be able to look Laura and Derek in the eye if he chose his son, while leaving their parents and sister die a most horrific death, could Peter really go on if he saved just one person this horrible night? Was the life of his worth more than that of his wife and daughter?

 `I’m sorry. ´ Peter says in a whisper, his heart feeling like it was crumbling within his chest, `I’m so sorry, ´ Peter repeats earnestly as he moves away from the stairs that would’ve taken him upstairs to his wailing son.

 The distressed and frightened cries of his son, his baby boy who had only been born thirteen-days ago, is perhaps the most horrid of tortures any father could be made to endure.

 Every step that Peter took was just another nail in the coffin of his son, and the knowledge that his choice to save the others and leave his son, his human child, to die alone upstairs chipped away at Peter’s heart and soul. Leaving his son to die was the most horrific thing Peter had ever done, and he was certain it would haunt him for the rest of his life.

 Leaving his son, his baby boy, to die alone and afraid was so wrong, it was against nature of any true father, it was _his_ job as a parent to protect and care for his son. Turning his back on the crying infant who he feared would die alone and afraid in his crib like some unwanted child, would leave Peter forever to be less of a man.

 Reaching the door that opened-up to a set of stairs that were the oldest part of the house, Peter called-out to his family that he was coming and that everything would be alright. The distressed and panicked cries of his pack, telling him to hurry, pleading him to save them, pushing him on even while a part of his brain continued to scream for him to save the baby that was so painfully human.

 Hurrying down the stone-step that were remnants of the original Hale House, a house that had been smaller than the cellar that had been dug and pickaxed into creation, Peter had no doubts these steps would survive the fire as they had done in the past.

 Peter doesn’t willingly fail those trapped behind the werewolf-proof door, he doesn’t willingly come to a pause, to a halt, it’s the smoke laced with burning mountain ash is just a bit too much. He feels weak, dizzy, breathless long before he is struck down by something heavy, stealing away his consciousness without mercy, and the last sounds he hears are the roar of the fire and the screams of his family is the last thing he hears before he darkness consumes him.  The last thought in his mind before consciousness left him, was that of failing everyone he’d loved, and it sits unwell within his shattering heart.

 

 ~*~

 

Following his sister down the hall, his steps slow and reluctant, Derek could not help but question Laura’s decision to leave Beacon Hills.

 `Are we really just going to leave him? ´ Derek keeps his voice low, so low you could hardly call it a whisper, but Derek is more than certain his sister heard him proven by the sudden tension in her shoulders. This simple but none the less anxious question was one that Derek had asked his sister, a question he’d asked many-many times since Laura declared they were leaving Beacon Hills and their uncle behind.

 Laura continues to follow Dr. Greenberg, her steps steady and unwavering, her response comes out in a low whisper, her voice too low for Dr. Greenberg to hear while he continues to tell Laura what to lookout for and what to do if their young cousin took a turn for the worse.

 `Yes. Yes, we are. ´ is her unchanging answer, and as she’d done before Laura continues to say, ` Peter can’t be moved, and he’s already as good as gone. ´ The gentleness that had once been there within this hurtful response gone now, lost by Laura’s determination to move, to run when they still had a good chance to escape without anyone noticing their departure.

 `He’s not dead. ´ Derek protests, his voice a smidge louder than before, but the doctor remains unaware that he and Laura are having a private conversation with him right there.

 Laura continues to follow the good doctor, but a frustrated sigh escapes her, and she takes a few calming breathes before responding to Derek’s weak declaration; and it was a weak declaration since even Derek could sense, could feel that Peter was gone even if his body hadn’t yet shutdown completely.

 `He’s gone Derek. He’s gone, and you know it. ´ The harsh truth makes him flinch, the guilt he feels for the horrors his stupidity and lust had brought is all consuming suddenly, his guilt only increases the sense of sorrow that kept him close to tears at all hours.   

 No doubt sensing his distress Laura turns around to face him, the need to comfort him so strong that even _he_ can sense it, but Derek doesn’t want her comfort, he doesn’t deserve it after everything he’d done, but he is too selfish and too needy to push her away as she pulls him in for a hug.

 `We’ll be fine. ´ Laura promises him, the one-armed hug holding him so very close, `We’ve still got each other. ´

 `And Peter’s son. ´ Derek says against Laura’s shoulder as he hugged her back, unabashedly he clings to his sister for dear-life. There was a fear in him that once Laura learned of his entanglement with Kate, his part in the destruction of their family that Laura would hate him, hate him enough to cast him out.

 `And Peter’s son. ´ Laura agrees, her voice breaking a little.

 Laura may have put up a brave front, she might’ve stood firm in her decision to not leave the baby in the care of strangers, Laura might pretend she was free of any doubts when it came to taking charge of Peter’s son, but Derek _knew_ Laura was extremely nervous about taking charge of a Peter’s baby; a baby that had been damaged by the fire that had killed its mother and sister, a fire that had as good as killed its father, a baby who would need so much more care than a goldfish or a cactus.

 `We will be fine. ´ Laura promises him again, this promise not a new one since she’d said it from the moment they’d been reunited.

 As Laura pulls bag, just enough to look him in the eye she continues to say, `Just - just make sure I don’t overfeed him the way I did my goldfish. ´

 `Fine. ´ Derek says, earning him a whispered Thank You.

 `But I’m not changing diapers. ´ Derek tells his sister who just smiles at him before kissing the top of his head.

 `No promises. ´ Laura says before turning her attention back to Dr. Greenberg, the good doctor waiting patiently for them, and Derek followed his sister dutifully.

 Entering the small room Derek can’t help but growl as a familiar scent hits him, the sound is too low for human ears but loud enough for his sister to hear. The nurse changing his cousins diaper wasn’t the reason for the growl that rose from deep within him, if anything Derek was grateful for all the care and love the nurse had selflessly given the baby, a baby who was as much of an orphan as Derek and Laura were. It was the stench of hunters that rubbed him the wrong way, it was the overly sweet stench of Kate that made it harder for Derek to control himself.

 Laura was right, they had to leave, they had to leave now.

`It’s time, ´ Dr. Greenberg tells the nurse as soon as she looks over at them, her smile falls immediately after the doctor says, `for Stiles to leave our care. ´

 `Stiles? ´ Laura asks, while Derek asks, `What the is a Stiles? ´

 The nurse who carefully picks-up the baby responds with a trembling voice, `Well, he needed a name and none of you gave him one, so because some of us liked the name Steven, many however liked the name Thomas, and then there’s Dr. Greenberg’s favorite Isaac, and some just called him Lucky-Baby-Hale, and then there’s Edward and Stuart. ´

 Cradling the baby close the nurse continues to say, `And to keep peace amongst ourselves we’ve been calling him Stiles. ´

 `I like it. ´ Laura says causing Derek to just gawk at her in disbelief.

 `It’s – unique. ´ Laura continues to say, and Derek can’t help but question if his sister had lost her mind, a thought that would reappear a great many times as they attempted to raise their cousin as best they could.

**~*~**

 

Stiles might just be seven years old when he returns to the town where he’d started out his young life in. He might not be old enough to drink or dive or to vote, but Stiles was a child full of determination and cleverness, which was why he’d gotten off of a bus in Beacon Hills all alone, no Derek or Laura to help him navigate his way to the only functioning long term care unit in Beacon Hills.

With what little money he had left after the long travel Stiles bought Peter, his dad, a small bouquet of flowers, and perhaps it’s the flowers that makes people not question his presence there; perhaps it is the flowers Stiles is holding and the Get Well Soon card Stiles had made days ago, that stops anyone from asking too many questions or at worst the nurses and orderlies just didn’t care who came and went.

 Taking a slow breath, trying to settle his nerves, Stiles gave the open door a knock before stepping inside the room that held the man who’d fathered him but who hadn’t been able to raise him.

 Not knowing what to expect, knocking did feel like the right thing to do, as did asking the man situated in a wheelchair by the window if he could come in.

 There’s no answer, no response at all, and Stiles thinks perhaps the guy in the wheelchair didn’t hear him so he cleared his throat before knocking once more and repeat his question a little bit louder, but again there’s no response.  

 After his long and somewhat perilous journey to Beacon Hills, Stiles isn’t about to allow the silence to push him back, and he refuses to take the silence as a form of rejection and instead steps inside the bleak room that was bathing in the warm summer sun.  

 `Mr. Hale. ´ Stiles starts while making his way towards the unmoving man who was facing away from him, `My – my name is….´his name gets stuck in his throat when he finally sees the face of the man in the wheelchair.

 Half of the mans face is covered in angry looking scars, and although Stiles had attempted to prepare himself well for this moment, the sight still shocks him enough to go speechless and unmoving.

 Stiles just stands there, and the man just sits there with this empty unseeing look in his eyes, eyes that aren’t the same color as Stiles own which makes Stiles wonder if he got the color of his eyes from his long dead mother.

 `Stiles? Stiles Hale? ´ a voice says suddenly from behind him, startling Stiles enough to cry out with fright before spinning around to face the man who’d walked in on him and Peter.

 `Stiles, I’m Sheriff Stilinski. ´ the man in a uniform that lacked the dark color worn by those back home, `Your cousin Laura has been very worried, son. ´

 Stiles does feel bad for causing Laura or Derek even more stress, but Laura refused to take him to see his dad, and Stiles just wanted to see him and learn why he wasn’t around even if only for the weekends.

 `I’m – I’m sorry. ´ Stiles says, suddenly feeling incredibly small and sad, exhausted and hungry too, a combination that brings him to tears.

**Author's Note:**

> So, in my head, my messy head, this visit which the Sheriff does allow Stiles to finish with leaving his flowers for Peter and to read his little card to him, because Sheriff Stilinski isn’t a horrible man and after he takes Stiles to get something to eat. The Sheriff keeps Stiles safe until Laura, a very angry and worried Laura, as well as Derek come to get him.
> 
> Now, this visit to Peter, no matter how short, does push Peter’s wolf to perk-up, to push forward and try and reach the pup it thought it had lost, so yeah there would be a bit of feral and injured Peter, but Peter doesn’t want to hurt Stiles and Stiles gets it and so he’s not afraid of this so-called monster but Laura and Peter are very wary of him.


End file.
